Numbers from 0 to 100,000

With eleven words, 零 and 一 to 十, you can say every whole number from 0 to 99.

Chinese numbers are some of the most regular in any language, and they are good tone practice, since the first ten use all four tones. One to ten are 一 yī, 二 èr, 三 sān, 四 sì, 五 wǔ, 六 liù, 七 qī, 八 bā, 九 jiǔ and 十 shí, and zero is 零 líng. Above ten you just build: eleven is ten one, 十一 shíyī; twelve is 十二 shí’èr; twenty is two ten, 二十 èrshí; twenty-one is 二十一 èrshíyī; ninety-nine is 九十九 jiǔshíjiǔ. There are no special words like eleven, twelve or the English teens. Korean and Japanese number words borrowed from Chinese are built in exactly the same way.

Hundreds, thousands and 万

The next place names are 百 bǎi (hundred) and 千 qiān (thousand). 100 is 一百 yìbǎi, 365 is 三百六十五 sānbǎi liùshíwǔ, and 2,026 is 两千零二十六 liǎngqiān líng èrshíliù. The big difference from English comes at ten thousand. English groups digits in threes, thousand and million. Chinese groups them in fours, and ten thousand has its own word, 万 wàn. So 10,000 is 一万 yíwàn, 100,000 is 十万 shíwàn (ten wan), and a million is 一百万 yìbǎi wàn (a hundred wan). Korean and Japanese also count in units of ten thousand.

Zero in the middle, and 两

When a place in the middle is empty, Chinese says 零 once, however many zeros there are: 101 is 一百零一 yìbǎi líng yī, and 1,005 is 一千零五 yìqiān líng wǔ. Zeros at the end are not said: 1,500 is 一千五百. The number two has two words. 二 èr is used when counting, in the tens and ones (十二, 二十), and in ordinals like 第二 dì’èr (second). 两 liǎng is used before a measure word when you mean two of something: 两个人 liǎng ge rén (two people), 两本书 liǎng běn shū (two books). Before 千 and 万 both are heard, and 两 is the more common choice at the start of a number, as in 两千 for 2,000.

Tones and phone numbers

Unit 5’s rule for 一 shows up in numbers. Before 百 bǎi (third tone) and 千 qiān (first tone) it is yì: yìbǎi, yìqiān. Before 万 wàn (fourth tone) it is yí: yíwàn. In 十一 and when counting one, two, three it stays yī. Watch 四 sì and 十 shí as well: 四十四 sìshísì (44) is a classic tongue twister for s and sh. Phone numbers, room numbers and bus numbers are read digit by digit, and there 一 is usually said yāo so that it cannot be mistaken for 七 qī. A number like 110, the police line in mainland China, is read yāo yāo líng.

Dates and prices

Numbers also build the calendar. The months are simply number plus 月 yuè (moon, month): 一月 yīyuè is January and 十二月 shí’èryuè is December. Days of the week are 星期 xīngqī plus a number, starting from Monday: 星期一 xīngqīyī is Monday and 星期六 xīngqīliù is Saturday, while Sunday is 星期天 xīngqītiān or 星期日 xīngqīrì. In shops the currency, the yuan, is written 元 yuán on price tags but usually said 块 kuài in speech, so 十五块 shíwǔ kuài is fifteen yuan.